Holiday Promotions Come Earlier for Banks

Bank of Arkansas in Fayetteville recently mailed out 350 pocket calendars so that both current and prospective customers could receive them before Thanksgiving.

Many local banks use calendars for holiday promotions, and in the competitive Northwest Arkansas market, the trend has been that they are sent earlier each year.

“It’s our way of saying thank you to our existing customers,” said Bank of Arkansas President & CEO Jeffrey R. Dunn, “and to remind prospective customers that we’d like to have their business next year. Traditionally, our customers have expected them in December, but I just decided this year that we wanted to get ours our earlier and tie them in with Thanksgiving.”

Dunn said this year’s pocket calendars, which are emblazoned with the bank’s logo, were a doubly good deal. At 90 cents per unit, the 750 that were ordered cost the bank only $675. And they’re thin enough to fit inside a suit or pants pocket, making them practical. They’re also a good way for the bank to get year-round visibility at public places like checkout counters and restaurants.

“The other 400 copies are handed out at our bank locations,” Dunn said. “We’ve had good responses with it and have been using some version of this calendar for 10 years. We order them in May or June, and this particular year’s is great because it contains a full-month summary on a two-page spread.”

Bank of Fayetteville has long run a similar, albeit larger calendar promotion. Director of communications Stacy Garrison said the bank’s cardboard pop-up calendars had always been a huge success.

Bank of Fayetteville spent $6,790 this year, about 97 cents per unit, to stock its teller windows with the desktop calendars for customers to take home.

“People started calling in September and asking if they were available yet,” Garrison said.